15 Top Tips for a Successful PR Career

One of the things I enjoy most nowadays is having the opportunity to speak to the future leaders of the PR profession when they’re starting out. One of the questions I often get asked is “what tips would you offer to get ahead in this field?”

Now that spring has sprung (at least, it’s trying to) and students are turning their minds to life after school, I thought it might be timely to offer some of that advice up here.

Here are 15 top tips for success in a public relations career. Funnily enough, I’d give the same advice to someone 10 years into their career, like me, too:

Never Stop Learning

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Is it Really Time for a Brainstorm?

Yay, it’s time for a brainstorm! You can’t wait to get some people together and come up with a BIG IDEA.

You’ve got the room set up creatively, snacks out, a flip board with markers and even a fun icebreaker ready to go. A lot of folks are here and most have even read the email outlining the problem you’re hoping to solve.

The brainstorm starts. People are having fun and a few ideas get tossed out.

But something’s not right. People seem uncertain. There is a lot of silence. Some ideas suggested don’t really hit the mark. There are a few blank stares and downward gazes. A few people even start glancing at their smartphones.

You start to panic. This is a BRAINSTORM! Why isn’t it working? Do I need to find new games to play with people? Did I invite the wrong people to this brainstorm?

It’s likely you’ve fallen into a common trap – holding the brainstorm too early in the process. Or in the words of my colleague Robyn Adelson, you’re unfortunately holding a “STRAINSTORM.” Read more »

Six Essential Shifts in Social Media Strategy

This post was originally published on Dave Fleet’s blog.

We’ve reached a critical point in the evolution of social media as a business tool. Gone are the days when the GMOOT (Get Me One Of Those) approach will get you anywhere – simply having a Twitter account, or a Facebook Page, isn’t enough. We’re at the point of social media saturation, and something’s got to give.

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What Will Be the Next Big Thing? Whatever We Make the Next Big Thing…

There are two factors at play in the king-making process of social media. Network externality and GMOOTs.

Network externality is the effect that a user of a service has on all other users of a service. A social network with only one user is pretty useless. Add another user and suddenly there is some value. Add additional users and the value of the system increases exponentially. At a certain point a system or platform becomes king, not because of its features or any technical achievement, but simply because “everyone is there.” En mass movements will occur, but only with significant change. No one is going to dump Facebook for something that is 10% better. A platform needs to be twice that of the entrenched player if it has any hopes of overcoming the pull of ‘everyone is there’.
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Digital Digest #13

Digital Digest – What’s new and emerging in marketing, technology and strategy

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What’s Fueling Mideast Protests? It’s More Than Twitter
Don’t call it a Twitter revolution just yet. Sure, protesters in the Middle East are using the short-messaging service — and other social media tools — to organize. And yes, there are sporadic reports coming out of Egypt that the regime has shut off internet access. But don’t confuse tools with root causes, or means with ends. And remember, only 25% of the Egyptian population is online.

Activists Need More than 140 Characters

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Facebook Strategies: Content Over Creative

Are you focusing your Facebook investment in the right place?

The immensely smart Jay Baer directed my attention to research conducted by Jeff Widman of Brand Glue, who found that 99.5% of comments on his clients’ status updates come from peoples’ newsfeeds, not from the pages themselves.

Interesting, right? As Jay notes, this means that a lot of effort which is expended on customizing fan pages on Facebook is, frankly, wasted. Read more »